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The Student News Site of Thomas S. Wootton High School

Common Sense

The Student News Site of Thomas S. Wootton High School

Common Sense

The Student News Site of Thomas S. Wootton High School

Common Sense

No, it isn’t romantic

The movie, “Isn’t it Romantic” is as cliche and stereotypical as a movie can get.

It is about a girl named Natalie (Rebel Wilson) who grew up with the idea that romantic comedies all follow the same boring formula and give woman false idealistic expectations about love. At the onset of the movie, Natalie mocks every aspect of the romantic comedy genre. Then, suddenly after a bump on her head, she finds herself living within a romantic comedy herself. This movie tries to come off as funny by making fun of cliches, and it is hard not to laugh, but unfortunately, not at the jokes but rather at the poor attempt at forced humor. Every scene is expected and unoriginal.

Natalie works as an architect in New York City, and although she is a skilled architect who is designing a new hotel, she is looked down upon by her colleagues and is often asked to fix the copier or get bagels and coffee. She does not have the confidence to say no to these requests or to shine at work and showcase her skills. After work one day she is taking the subway home when a man stops to talk to Natalie. In a matter of seconds, he tries to mug her and she ends up get knocked unconscious. She wakes up to find herself in a alternate universe. She discovers she has woken up in her worst nightmare, a real-life romantic comedy.

The movie is not romantic or funny. It lacks a feeling of genuine romance and love as well as any type of chemistry among the characters. The whole premise is to mock romantic comedies but also it is one. Although the idea is creative and could be interesting, the execution does not work. The movie tries to mock the idea of deep emotion and love, but these are the very elements that this movie needs to grasp the attention of the audience. The movie feels lacking in depth and character development. “I kept waiting for there to be more from the relationships between the characters but it never happened,” junior Jessie Grinspoon said.

Throughout the whole movie, there is the expectation that the main character Rebel Wilson will start to shine, create fun and laughter and the whimsical approach that the movie is striving to achieve. She is famous for being funny and having a big, charismatic personality in all her films. However, this big personality did not shine through. “I loved Rebel Wilson in Pitch Perfect, so I expected a lot more from her in this movie but I was bored the whole time,” junior Parmida Khajoee said.

Each character is expected and stereotypical. Natalie is the female who lacks confidence and struggles with her appearance; she has a gay best friend, is sought after by the good looking but not-so-nice male lead, competes with a beautiful model for a man’s attention, and even the dog is portrayed in no surprising or unique way. The movie tries to mock romantic comedies with these characters but rather than add to the humor it creates a boring, dry, unmemorable movie.

According to Datebook, the movie never gets past its gimmick and never grows into something better. Datebook argues that it would of helped if the writers actually knew how to make romantic comedies, not just know how to make fun of them.

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